Volunteers will help to guide boaters through the Hampstead Road lock in Camden Town and the City Road lock in Islington and provide a friendly welcome to fellow canal enthusiasts.

Lock keepers perform a vital role and the trust hopes to double the number of volunteers it attracted in last year’s appeal.

Deborah Vidler, London volunteer coordinator at the Canal & River Trust, said: “The waterways are a national treasure that everyone can participate in and our volunteers have been able to provide so many additional benefits on top of the year round work Canal & River Trust staff carry out.”

The role requires no experience and a survey last year showed people saw big health benefits. Some 70 per cent of people said that “keeping fit and active” was one of the major motivations for becoming canal volunteers.

The only qualities the trust is looking for are enthusiasm and a willingness to learn.

A controversial proposal to build an 11-storey residential tower in the heart of West Hampstead will be considered by Camden Council tonight – as the lone Labour councillor vocally opposing the plans is criticised by colleagues and branded “misguided”.